Located in Wyoming, Jackson Hole is bordered by two large national parks - Grand Teton and Yellowstone - and the new terminal, without exaggeration, is a kind of entrance portal for them. On the other hand, in the assignment, the size of the new structure was severely limited, because this is the only airport in the United States built on the territory of the Grand Teton National Park. Gensler Architects sprawled the one-story terminal building along the majestic Teton mountain range, part of the Rocky Mountains, trying to fit the architecture as much as possible into the natural environment through the use of natural wood and natural stone.
Above the solid glazing of the halls, there is a structural frame: powerful wooden columns, rafters and beams supporting the roof canopy are the main decorative element. This technique brings to mind the architecture of the Alpine ski resorts and the times of the Wild West.
Entrance groups in the form of laconic rectangular volumes are decorated with natural stone. Wood, meanwhile, is also the main element of interior decoration. It is safe to say that an airport with such extensive use of wood is a rare occurrence, but in Jackson Hole this was facilitated by the chamber scale of the building, and the resort atmosphere, and the magnificent natural environment, which ordered the building to be nothing less than "green". The Gensler project, by the way, is LEED certified.
N. K.
